Reviewed by USGSTonga24y ago
M4.5 earthquake 213 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga
Thursday, December 12, 2002, 13:43:33 UTC · 20.439°S, 177.114°W
A magnitude 4.5 earthquake struck 213 km WNW of Haveluloto, Tonga on Thursday, December 12, 2002, 13:43:33 UTC, at a depth of 300.0 km (deep). It is the strongest earthquake within 300 km since an M4.5 on December 7, 2002.
- Magnitude
- 4.5
- Light · mb
- Depth
- 300 km
- Deep
- Felt reports
- 0
- Did You Feel It?
- Est. shaking
- —
- No ShakeMap
- PAGER alert
- None
- Not issued
- Tsunami
- No flag
- USGS feed
Outlined circle: this earthquake
In context
How big was it, and why here?
Energy released
85 tons of TNT
That is about 1/178 of the Hiroshima bomb. A magnitude 5.0 releases about 6 times more energy.
Tectonic setting
98 km
from the nearest mapped plate boundary, between the Tonga and Australian plates. Earthquakes cluster along boundaries like this one, where plates collide, pull apart or slide past each other.
Depth: deep
300 km
Deep earthquakes (over 300 km) happen deep inside subducting plates. They rarely cause damage, but can be felt faintly over very large distances.
Did You Feel It?
Where it was felt
No “Did You Feel It?” reports have been published for this event yet. If you felt it, you can add your report on the USGS website.
I felt it — report to USGS ↗USGS PAGER estimate
Who was exposed to shaking
USGS publishes PAGER impact estimates for significant earthquakes, usually within an hour. No PAGER estimate is available for this event.
After the main event
Aftershocks within 50 km
USGS has not published any M2.5+ earthquake within 50 km in the 30 days after this event.
Regional history
Past M5+ earthquakes within 300 km
USGS lists 1,233 M5.0+ earthquakes within 300 km before this one (catalog from 1900; older records are less complete). The strongest:
- 8.0TongaJanuary 4, 1903 · 226 km E of this epicenter
- 7.8159 km W of Pangai, TongaDecember 14, 1950 · 153 km NE of this epicenter
- 7.8Fiji regionJanuary 1, 1919 · 160 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.8192 km WSW of Haveluloto, TongaOctober 14, 1997 · 188 km S of this epicenter
- 7.7Fiji regionAugust 19, 2002 · 285 km SW of this epicenter
- 7.6240 km E of Levuka, FijiMarch 9, 1994 · 300 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.5262 km WNW of Haveluloto, TongaMay 21, 1962 · 53 km NW of this epicenter
- 7.4Fiji regionSeptember 28, 1957 · 129 km W of this epicenter
History · NOAA
Deadliest earthquakes in this area
NOAA’s significant-earthquake database lists 12 damaging, deadly or tsunami-generating earthquakes within 300 km of this epicenter since 1700, which together caused about 1 recorded deaths. The most severe:
- 1977M7.2
Tonga Trench
22 Jun 1977 · 299 km away · intensity IV
1 death$1 million damagetsunami
- 1937M8.1
Fiji Islands
16 Apr 1937 · 119 km away
- 1903M8.0
Tonga Islands
4 Jan 1903 · 226 km away
- 1919M7.8
Fiji Islands
1 Jan 1919 · 160 km away
tsunami
- 1950M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Dec 1950 · 156 km away · intensity VI
- 1997M7.7
Tonga Islands
14 Oct 1997 · 188 km away
tsunami
NOAA NCEI Global Significant Earthquake Database. Historical figures are estimates; older records are incomplete.